Even A Housekeeper Has Her Favourites
by DowntonIsMyLife
Summary: The relationship between Mrs Hughes and Lady Sybil over the space of 20 years. Carson/Mrs Hughes pairing as well as Sybil/Branson at the end.
1. Five

**It was going to be my first non-romantic one ;) but unfortunately I couldn't resist so it's got Chelsie moments in it ;D It was inspired by Carson's line in S1 Ep 3 "Even a Butler has his favourite's m'lady" I wanted to do one with Sybil and Mrs Hughes because if she was going to favourite any of the young ladies it would be Sybil. **

Five

Elsie was sitting in her parlour going over some accounts when she heard a soft knock at her door, she looked up as the door opened but saw no one until she looked down to see Lady Sybil, one hand hanging onto the door knob, the other clutching her doll near to her face.

"Can I come in Mrs Hughes?"

"Of course dear, come on in" she put down her pen and put the papers to one side, she smiled as she watched Sybil pushing with all her strength against the door in an effort to close it. Elsie smiled thinking how easy it was for her to do it but for someone so small it took a lot of effort. She grunted as she closed it but stayed where she was, she looked at Elsie before looking at the floor, Elsie tilted her head to one side in an attempt to understand what Sybil wanted. She was remarkably small for her age, she was 5 and a half but only came up to Elsie's thigh in height. She had black hair that was already very long and she had it tied in a braid that laid over her left shoulder. She had a sweet innocent face and had large blue eyes that sparkled when she was happy, she was very quiet and a soft high pitched voice. She was certainly the quietest of the three girls but then again she was the youngest so she didn't get a chance to speak much.

"Do you want to come and sit on my lap lass?"

Sybil looked up, despite half her face being hidden by her doll, Elsie could see her smile, it was clear she'd wanted to but didn't want to ask, she trotted over and giggled as Elsie picked her up to sit her on her lap. Sybil leant her head against Elsie's chest and listened to her heartbeat for a moment, Elsie has her fingers around Sybil's waist and her thumb on her arm with her other hand resting on Sybil's leg. She could easily get both arms around the child, she really was small.  
>It was a few minutes before Sybil raised her head to look at Elsie, she had put her doll on her lap so Elsie could see her face.<p>

"What it is you came to see me about m'lady?"

"Why do you call me that?"

"Well it's because you are a lady, your parents are a lord and lady so you and your sisters are ladies as well.

"But why aren't you Lady… Lady Hughes?"

Elsie laughed, "because I am not daughter of a lord and lady, I'm a farmer's daughter so I'm just Mrs Hughes"

"Are you married?"

"No… no I'm not"

"Oh, well I think you should be a lady, but it's a bit boring sometimes, but mama seems to do a lot so maybe of you were a lady you'd have a lot more to do'

Elsie smiled again and hugged her close.

"Would you like to be married Mrs Hughes?"

This question caught her off guard and she stared for a moment at those innocent eyes.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe"

Sybil was now at the age where she was very inquisitorial and constantly asked questions, most of these questions came to Elsie, she realised that she'd never asked the girl why she came to her.

"Lady Sybil?"

"You can call me Sybil"

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed my lady, it's not my place to call you by your first name"

"well I give you permission, you must call me Sybil because I've told you to"

Elsie laughed again, Mary was the stubborn one but Sybil certainly knew her mind even at her age.

"Ok then Sybil, why is it you always come and ask me questions?"

"You don't like me asking you question?"

"No, no I'm flattered that you come to me dear, but why me? Why not your mother or your grandmother?"

"They're always busy, they can never make time for me but you always do, you're always much nicer to me too"

Elsie was stunned, she had to make time for her employers nicer was a compliment and a half. But before she could speak, Sybil carried on.

"Mary thinks she too old to play with me now, plus she spends a lot of time with Mr Carson and Edith don't one for "playing" any more, so I get a bit lonely, it's nice to be able to come and talk to you" she smiled up at Elsie and she could feel her heart strings tugged at by her sweet smile.

"Well I'm honoured that you spare the time to come and talk to me" she hugged her closer and rested her cheek on Sybil's soft hair.

"What's the name of you doll Miss Sybil? You take her round with you everywhere, does she has a name?"

"Not yet, I just call her dolly, I can't think of a name for her, can I name her fter you?"

"You don't want to name her after me my lady, why not name her after your mama or grandmamma?"

"No, I'd prefer to name her after you"

"How about I help you choose a name my lady?"

"Ok, what would you recommend?"

"Hmmmm, what about Charlotte? It's always been one of my favourite names"

"Charlotte" she lifted the doll to her head height to study her, "yes I think that'll be fine" she turned to Elsie again and kissed her on the cheek, "thank you Mrs Hughes, I appreciate you sparing the time for me" she jumped off her lap and steadied herself upon landing, another move that would be a challenge for her size, "bye bye Mrs Hughes, I must go and put Charlotte to bed" she waved and shut the door.  
>Elsie sat there, she was always astounded at how grown up she was, she suspected that's what happened when you were brought up in a mature and grown up environment.<p>

She thought of Charlotte, thought of why she'd told her that name. Lady Sybil did feel like a daughter to her, she worried of Sybil's attachment to her but she could see that she was being neglected by the females in her family, her father would sometimes make time for her, she was the apple of his eye and he loved to have her to himself without the other girls but when he was busy she was left out and seemed to rely on Elsie for company.  
>She'd offered the name of Charlotte because it had been it had been the name she would give her daughter if she'd ever had one. She chose the name as it was the female version of Charles, the man she was so desperately in love with. She and Charles had been romantically involved with each other for 5 years now and she loved him dearly, they'd spoken about marriage but neither of them were too keen to leave, they enjoyed just spending quiet moments together and although it was complicated to hide it from everyone else sometimes but they didn't seem to notice the housekeeper and butler spending anymore time with each other than they already did. She was nearly 31 and felt she was gradually moving further and further away from having a child. She was sad, she felt she'd missed out on it and lost the opportunity but she wouldn't regret being with Charles, she could never regret being with him.<p>

It was late in the evening and after she and Charles had cuddled enough on her settee, they adjourned to their rooms, she was halfway up the stairs when she remembered she'd left her book in her sitting room, sighing she made her way back downstairs into her room. She sighed as she looked around her room, years of being at Downton and as housekeeper, so much had happened just in this little room.  
>She was broken from her reminiscence by the sound of the door creaking open, she expected to see Charles standing there, they did struggle to part sometimes but instead she saw a dark haired girl, doll pressed against her face wearing her nightdress and trembling, Elsie noticed that there were tear tracks down her cheeks.<p>

"Oh Miss Sybil, whatever's the matter?"

Her lip trembled and she burst into tears and ran to Elsie burying her face in her dress. Elsie bent down and picked her up balancing Sybil on her hip, supporting her with one hand while the other stroked her hair.

"Oh my dear whatever has made you so upset at this time of night?"

"I … had … a … nightmare" she said between sobs

"Oh sweetheart" she hugged Sybil tighter and walked over to the settee, allowing the girl to lie against her. She gently stroked her back, sshhing her every so often, she leaned her head on Sybils, holding her rather possessively but making her feel safe and protected. She heard her sobbing stop and continued to hold her before she looked down to see that Sybil had fallen asleep in her arms. She smiled and kissed the girls' head before letting her sleep

Half and hour passed and Elsie woke to realise she was still in her sitting room with a sleeping 5 year old on her lap. She picked her up, turning the lights off in her room and made her way up the stairs, carrying Sybil back to the nursery which she still shared with Edith, Mary had been moved into her own room once she turned 10.  
>Elsie put her back in her bed and tucked her in, she turned to leave but heard a whimper behind her, kneeling beside the bed, she kissed Sybil's cheek.<br>"It's alright now darling, go to sleep" she stroked her cheek and stood up, trying to stop her keys jangling as she began to leave,  
>"night night mama" Sybil mumbled as she settled down in the covers, she smiled to herself as she closed the door, oblivious to the pair of small brown eyes that watched her every move.<p>

The next morning, Elsie went back down to her parlous after she'd overseen the work the maids were doing, she went over to her desk to find a piece of paper with a drawing on it of a little girl in white, holding hands with a taller woman in black, along with the words;  
>'Thank You For The Cuddle Last Night Mrs Hughes<br>Sybil'

She felt tears brimming, she could see how Charles had become attached to Mary, she now very much loved Sybil.  
>She turned at the knock at the door, she knew that knock, it was too loud to be Sybil but too gentle to be anyone else. She smiled as Charles entered, she found no matter what mood she was in, Charles could always make her smile and feel happy.<p>

"Good Morning darling" she turned to put the note back on her desk, but turning back to face Charles she was met with a puzzled expression, "what?"

"You've never called me darling before"

"You don't mind do you?"

"No no of course not" he chuckled and pulled her into his arms, he sighed as she rested her head on his chest, she could see why Sybil enjoyed being cuddled for hours.

"You were quite the topic of conversation at breakfast this morning,"

"was I?" she was curious, surely his lordship wouldn't be discussing her and her ladyship didn't eat with them, there was only going to be one person speaking of her.

"Oh yes, but not who you'd expect" seeing her confused face, Charles retold the conversation at breakfast.

_Robert had been eating breakfast with Mary, Edith and Sybil. They were all very quiet, eating while Robert read his letters. Sybil, only just being able to see over the table, was turning her fork in her hand and Mary watched her carefully._

"_Sybil, what's wrong?"_

_All heads turned to Sybil, including Carson, Sybil looked at everyone before shaking her head and mumbled, nothing, inaudibly. They continued to eat silently until Edith spoke out;_

"_What was Mrs Hughes doing in the nursery last night?" _

_Roberts head shot up, a horrified and confused look on her face, Carson felt worried, more about how Robert would react, he knew that Elsie was close to Sybil but wasn't sure how Robert would react knowing how much time they spent together._

"_When was this?" Robert addressed Edith as he put down his letters,_

"_last night, it was very late and everyone else was in bed"_

"_Sybil?" he turned to her, "why was Mrs Hughes in the nursery?"_

"_She was putting me back in bed, I'd had a nightmare and I went down to her, she cuddled me till I fell asleep then she took me back to the nursery"_

"_Why did you go to her? Why didn't you come to me or mama?"_

"_I don't know, I knew you'd both be in bed, but when I came out of the nursery I heard the servants still up so I knew she would be"_

"_Why do you spend all your time with Mrs Hughes? She's a servant" Edith said bitterly, not realising how mean it sounded until she'd said it_

"_Why shouldn't I?" Sybil suddenly shouted, her high pitched voice piercing Edith who sat next to her, causing her to cover it with her hand, "why shouldn't I spend my time with Mrs Hughes, you don't play with me anymore, you're too grown up" she sneered, but before Mary could retort she began at Edith, "and you're getting there as well, you're too boring to play with now"_

"_Sybil!" Robert pleaded but his daughter was far stronger than he gave her credit for._

"_You and Mama are too busy to take any notice of me, the only one who does is Mr s Hughes, that's why I spend all my time with her. You're all supposed to be Lords and Ladies but she's just a farmers daughter and she's far nicer, they all are, all the servants, they don't have posh backgrounds and they're much nicer people to be with than all of you, you all ignore me!" She turned to Edith, "that's why I spend all my time with her, because she's far nicer to me than anyone else and I love her!"_

_With this she climbed off her chair and stormed out of the door that Carson held open for her, a slightly amused expression on his face. The sight of such a small girl making such an exit and a defence against someone she cared for was so admirable._

_The family stared open mouthed at one another, _

"_well done for starting that Edith!" Mary spat "you're just jealous that you don't have one of the servants to care for you!" with this she followed Sybil._

_Edith felt tears brimming and she looked down at her lap,_

"_Don't go getting upset Edith, but don't go upsetting your little sister, she's much younger than you and is left out, if she's found a friend in Mrs Hughes, let her spend time with her. Now, go and apologise"_

_She nodded silently and made her way out. Robert stood up, with a sigh, turning to Carson._

"_Carson, could you thank Mrs Hughes for caring for Sybil, I don't mean to make her feel neglected and I'm happy she's got someone to go and talk to"_

"_Yes my Lord" he said with a nod,_

_Robert was about to leave before he turned back,_

"_actually, I thank both of you, I know how you care for Lady Mary. You're like second parents to the girls, and right now I think Sybil could do with a caring mother who gives her attention, it's kind of her"_

"_I think, if I may say so m'lord that Mrs Hughes cares for Lady Sybil because she has never had a child of her own, I know that she would have liked one, I think she's making up for it" he smiled sadly thinking how much he'd love to have had a daughter with her._

_Robert nodded knowingly, "well she's not too old yet surely, she may meet someone over the next few years and may have her own child, make sure she knows how much I appreciate what she does now though" he smiled and left._

_Charles thought, maybe he should propose to her again and they could have a child together, but thinking about it, he realised they didn't have enough money to support themselves let alone a baby. But he made his way downstairs to inform Elsie of what his Lordship had said._

"Oh lord, I was the cause of the argument?" she put her hand to her forehead but Charles took it away and kissed it instead.

"If you saw and heard Lady Sybil you'd be proud, I never expected it to be her that defended your honour, I'm certainly proud of her" he winked at Elsie before resuming their previous position of her head resting on his chest while he stroked her head.

"She said she loved you by the way"

"She's a sweet girl, I guess I love her as well"

"She thinks of you to be a second mother to her, I don't think she could be without you"

"Then we shall have to stay and take care of the girls while their parents don't"

"If we cant have our own children then we should take care of someone elses?" he looked down at her, confused.

"Well they seem to want us to, as long as Miss Sybil wants me around I'll be here for her, Im sure you'll do the same for Miss Mary"

"Yes I will, you would have made a wonderful mother though"

She flinched, "well, tha's our decision, I'll miss not being able to bring up our child but oh well" she trailed off and gazed off at the wall, "but you can't miss what you never had"

"Cant you?" they looked at each other for a while before she began to cry and he held her tight.

"I'm sorry Elsie, I suppose we couldn't support ourselves, we've still got the young ladies here and his Lordship understands the attachment between you and Lady Sybil"

"Ok" she sniffed, she didn't know what to say but she was glad to have approval to look after Sybil, even though she wasn't her own daughter, she wouldn't swap her for anything.

**Hope you liked it, I am planning to continue, please tell me what you think :) **


	2. Ten

**Glad you like this one :)  
>Probably didn't notice but the lines in the last chapter that said <strong>,  
><strong>"You can miss what you never had," "Can't you?" is a quote from Secrets and Lies which Phyllis Logan stars in and that was one of her lines ;) I was quite pleased to be able to include it.<strong>

Ten

She wandered around the house, she felt odd, she felt … grown up. She'd been alone ever since Edith had gone but tomorrow she was 10 so she was going to, today was the day Sybil would finally get her own bedroom, an early birthday present from her parents. She stood on the landing outside the nursery and looked down, she liked just watching the goings on of the house, especially the servants, they were like a whole different family she didn't know about. She heard her mother's voice and looked to see her talking to Mrs Hughes, she felt her smile widen at the sight of her, she'd been very close to Mrs Hughes ever since she was born, she'd even go as far to say she was closer to Mrs Hughes than her own mother, but she knew her family understood why she spent so much time with her, shed always been left out by her sisters, except when they were very young, but as soon as Mary moved out of the nursery she thought herself to grown up to play with them so they'd all gone their separate ways.

Cora dismissed Mrs Hughes and she began to make her way towards the servants stairs, Sybil shot across to the main staircase and nearly knocked over her mother as she ran after Mrs Hughes, Cora's eyes followed Sybil and she rolled them when she saw where she was going, she thought it sweet, the soft spot Sybil had for Mrs Hughes and even she had seen a different side of Mrs Hughes besides the firm housekeeper demeanour she had in front of the maids.

Mrs Hughes was oblivious to the running feet behind her as she made her way down to her sitting room. She smiled at Charles as he was coming out of his pantry as she entered hers, just as Sybil came hurtling down the stairs, the maids having to press themselves against the wall to avoid being hit by the flying nine year old as she jumped the last few steps. She was running past Mr Carson but he suddenly grabbed her and lifted her above his head, she giggled in delight,

"And where little miss might you be going?"

"To see Mrs Hughes of course"

"To see Mrs Hughes you say? Well we'll have to see about that, you'll have to get past me first"

As he said this, Mrs Hughes appeared in the doorway at the sound of Sybil's laughter as she was brought down to the floor and tickled by Charles. She smiled at the sight.

"Mrs Hughes … make … him … stop" she managed breathlessly as she laughed

Elsie walked forward but instead of helping Sybil she began to tickle her too,

"Nooo … no … please … stop" Elsie gave in and stood up,

"c'mon my girl, must get away from the tickle monster" she winked at Charles as she took Sybils hand and led her into her sitting room.  
>She let Sybil sit in an armchair while she sat at her desk,<p>

"look at you then, your birthday tomorrow, getting to be a very big girl now"

Sybil's smiled disappeared; she nodded and looked down at her hands.

"Can I … come and sit on your lap please?" this was the first time she'd ever asked, either Elsie would ask if she wanted to or she just would.

"Of course dear" she opened her arms for Sybil to come into them, she could tell there was something wrong, she was quieter than usual.

"You're nearly getting to big to do this" she joked as she lent her head against Sybil's, one hand on her leg, the other on her shoulder. They were silent for a minute before Elsie heard a little sniff and look down to see Sybil's eyes tightly shut but tears trickling down anyway, she turned her round to face her,

"oh my dear what's the matter?"

"I don't want to get too big Mrs Hughes" she sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "I don't want to grow up because they'll say I'm too old to come down here, they'll make me do things instead of letting me spend my time with you"

Elsie held her closer, she had been worrying about exactly the same thing, the girl may have loved her when she was small but when she was 10 would she still want to come and spend all her time with the old housekeeper, well she wasn't "old" necessarily but she was getting there.

"I'll still be here Miss Sybil, you'll still see me and you'll be allowed to still come and see me, maybe not as much as you did but you still will, your father understands, he'll still let you."

"He might want me to spend more time with mama"

"Well there's nothing wrong with spending time with your mother, you should spend time with her"

"But I don't want to spend time with her, I want to spend time with you. I want you to teach me all the things the governess does, I want to be allowed to go on walks with you, I don't want to spend time with anyone else!"

Elsie couldn't help smiling, she was trying hard not to cry, she didn't know what she should say, she shouldn't really say what she felt, she would have to tell her the truth.

"I'm sorry Miss Sybil, believe me I would love to be able to spend all my time with you, I have to run the house and you wouldn't be allowed to spend all your time with me. You must allow yourself to grow up and become who you are, it was fine to spend all your time with me when you were little but now you must _become _Lady Sybil"

Her heart broke as she said the words, especially when she saw Sybil's lip tremble, but she burst into loud sobs and Elsie held her close to her. When Sybil pulled back, her eyes were red and the tears were still pouring down her face, Elsie realised she wasn't upset, more angry.

"I thought you'd be here to protect me from them but you're trying to get rid of me!"

"No I'm not…"

"YOU ARE! YOU'RE TRYING TO GET RID OF ME!"

The loud screams alerted Charles that something was wrong, he entered the sitting room and moved instantly to allow a crying Sybil to run past slamming the door on her way. He stared at Elsie who was sitting with her head in her hands, when he noticed her shoulders moving he moved over to her to kneel before her and take her hands away from her face, rubbing away the tears that had begun to fall.

"Oh Charles what have I done?"

"You haven't done anything Elsie" he kissed her on her forehead and held her for a moment, "she's scared of the changes but it's not your fault."

"But she trusted me, she trusted me to look after her and I just told her to go,"

"You did what was right"

"But I upset her, oh god Charles I broke her trust"

He stood up, holding onto her forearms and bringing her to stand with him,

"She'll come back, mark my words, when she's had a bit of time to herself and calmed down I'm sure she'll come and see you"

Elsie sniffed and looked up at him,

"I wish I could believe you Charles, I really do but…"  
>Unable to finish her sentences she buried her face in his jacket and he gently stroked her back until her tears subsided.<p> 

Throughout the day she felt a lump in her throat, she felt sick but not as if she would be, just felt physically sick. She avoided going upstairs as much as she could, during her rounds she practically ran through the corridors but she found herself freeze as she faced the girls rooms. She couldn't bear to face Sybil at the moment, all she could see was that little crying face, that little girl who put her all her trust in only a couple of people, she could just see her, sitting on her bed, crying her eyes out, alone, so alone. She felt tears brimming so quickly turned away but walked straight into Lady Grantham.

"Oh m'lady I do apologise"

"No need Mrs Hughes, it's quite alright" she began to walk down the corridor but stopped and turned back,

"Oh, Mrs Hughes, I was wondering if you could come with me to inspect Sybil's new room, it's been redecorated and the new bed has been delivered, but I think I should have your opinion"

"Oh …. I … yes m'lady" she couldn't think of a good enough excuse so she followed Cora down the hall to the last room.

Her breath was taken away as she entered, the room had once been a horrid grey colour with a blue trim but now it was a sunny yellow with a white trim, she couldn't help but smile as she saw it, it was so - 'Sybil.' But as beautiful as the room was it just reminded her of how grown up Sybil was, the poor girl.

"It's lovely my lady" she wanted to leave as quickly as she could, she needed to distract herself with some work.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Cora faced Elsie, she found herself unable to answer, the truth would be that Sybil would hate it, she already did, but she couldn't exactly tell Cora that.

"I'm sure she will my lady…" She gazed around the room feeling the lump in her throat returning.

"What it is?" she hadn't noticed that Cora was still watching her.

"Oh nothing my lady" she smiled but looked away quickly, "if that'll be all…" she turned to leave but she felt a hand on her arm.

"I really am grateful for the way you look after Sybil Mrs Hughes, she holds you in high regard and it's nice to see her smile after she's been to see you. I've never thanked you properly for it but I feel I should" she smiled genuinely, still holding onto Elsie's arm.

"It was my pleasure my lady, she's a sweet girl and it's been lovely to have such a loving admirer" she blinked furiously to hold back the tears.

"It's difficult for me to spare the time for her, so I'm glad you do, she loves you Mrs Hughes, I hope you don't grow apart as she gets older" she let go of Elsie's arm and stood up straight.

"I hope so too my lady" was all she managed before she hurriedly left.

She sat in her sitting room, no amount of work could distract her now, she sank back into her chair thinking of that tiny dark haired girl who would come and sit on her lap every afternoon, look at her with those big blue eyes over her cocoa mug, giggle so sweetly when Elsie would make her laugh, smile as she left and always be back the next afternoon without a doubt.  
>Elsie thought of how she'd managed to lose the chance of having her own children, now, she'd also lost the surrogate daughter that'd adored her for ten years. She gazed at the drawing, she still had it, it sat propped up against the wall on her desk, the corners of the paper were fraying a little but it was still intact. She held it for a moment, rubbing her fingers over the drawing of Sybil, her smiling face, her blue eyes, standing next to Elsie she looked even smaller than she had been in reality, this time she could not hold back her tears, she'd lost every opportunity for a daughter that she'd ever had, now it was over. She'd go back to being Mrs Hughes, the firm housekeeper that only one man got to see the other side of, the thought of him should have made her happy but it didn't, all she could think about was the loss of that little girl and how it'd been her fault.<p>

She felt the tears pour uncontrollably down her cheeks as she put the drawing back on her desk. She decided she wouldn't try and stop herself crying, she kept her emotions locked up to much, no, now she would let herself cry, let herself cry for Sybil, for the fear that child was feeling, for the pain of having her trust broken, for the lonely feeling she suffered, for everything that poor ten year old had been through before life has even begun to get difficult for her.  
>She heard a sniff, it wasn't her, it came from outside the door, she composed herself and made her way over. She placed her ear against the door and heard a soft thump and the sound of someone crying, she crouched down and found the sound was louder as she did, she knew who it was and she flung open the door, catching Sybil as she fell forward (she'd had her forehead against the door.)<br>Elsie picked her up, pushing the door almost shut with her foot and just held her there feeling the girl cry into her shoulder, she too cried into the girls thick hair, she clutched to her wishing she could never let her go, protect her from everything that could harm her but eventually she felt Sybil pull back to look at her, the sight of her watery, red eyes breaking Elsie's heart further.

"I'm so 'hic' sorry Mrs Hughes … I should never have ... shouted at you ... it was unkind ... and I need you Mrs Hughes … I need your comfort when I'm sad, I need your cocoa when I'm cold I you're your cuddles … I just need you" she burst into tears again and once again buried her face into Elsie's shoulder.

"It's alright my dear, I need you too, I'm glad you came back" Elsie was still crying but this time with tears of joy, she had her little girl back and she wasn't going to let her go again.

Charles closed the door of her sitting room to give them some privacy, smiling to himself for being right, but it hadn't escaped his notice how distracted she'd been that day, he knew the loss of the possibility of a child between them had upset her, but he could see just what the loss of a child entirely had done to her, he sighed, imagining what a wonderful mother she would have been to her own daughter – well at least she had Sybil.

**I hope you still like it a Happy New Year to you all :)**


	3. Fifteen

**Now I've got four stories to update and it's getting longer between updates, I'm very sorry :/ Heehee, I'm incapable of going 5 minutes without writing another story for 'Chelsie'. Although this and Tapping Noise of Temptation have little bits of Chelsie in it, they're not solely about it :p  
>Hope you're still enjoying this story though.<strong>

Fifteen

The ship was down, the unsinkable ship was down. That was a shocks enough of it wasn't for her death of Patrick and James. It had been O'Brien who first heard the news, she'd informed Anna and Gwen, Elsie has only found out through Charles, she felt a little annoyed that she was one of the last to hear but it wasn't important, she wanted to find Sybil, talk it over with her but the you ladies were keeping themselves busy upstairs. Edith was devastated and had only been crying; shed locked hereof away and has only allowed herself to be seen by Sybil and Anna. Mary was hidden away; attempting to look as if she was upset by Elsie knew full well she had only agreed to marry Patrick because her parents had told her to. Sybil was quiet, she was sad of course, she'd been fond of Patrick, but she was busy "growing up," now fifteen she was soon to be ready to go to London for her first season, she was excited of course but couldn't help but think that something was missing in her life, there was a gap that wasn't filled by dresses, paying calls and marriage - it wasn't her and unfortunately only one woman understood that.

Else sat in her sitting room, distracted as she had been all day. She found she spent a lot of time just sitting in her room - thinking, and if she wasn't thinking, no doubt she would be with Charles and he made her forget her entire job when he caught her lips with one of those intoxicating kisses. She blushed; sometimes she acted like a mindless school girl when she thought of him.  
>But she let her mind wander to other things, she thought of Lady Edith, how hurt she must be, not only to lose the one you were in love with to your sister, but then for them to die and see your sister not caring. She couldn't bear to think of life without Charles so she understood a little for Edith, they'd never had the same relationship she'd had with Sybil but they'd never not gotten along.<p>

She thought of Sybil, her not so little Lady Sybil, the girl who used to come to her sitting room every day, never caring that she probably shouldn't, the girl who would fit snugly on her lap while she did her work, never caring that she did, she liked to be cuddled, the girl who used to discuss every problem and worry with her, never caring about the differences between them, simply a girl who wanted a friend and she'd got one for life.

It seemed that Lady Sybil could read minds as whenever Elsie thought of her she seemed to come and knock on the door.

"Good morning Milady, how are you?"

"I'm fine thank you Mrs Hughes, may I come in?"

"Of course my dear, would you like something to drink?" she put down her teacup as Sybil closed the door and sat down.

"No thank you, I I'm fine" she smiled but looked away.

"Miss Sybil, I've known you since the night you were born, you even said your first word to me, I think by now I can tell when something's the matter."

Sybil smiled; it was true that the housekeeper knew her better than anyone in the house, in her family, everywhere.

"I feel … I don't know, kind of unnoticed, everyone's obsessed with Mary at the moment. I know Edith feels the same but she' s so upset she's locked herself away, I spoke to her and we both feel left out."

"Under the shadow of your eldest sister?"

"Yes, I'm not usually bothered by her but now it seems to be getting to me more,"

"I think we all knew this day would come, but if it's any consolation milady, you've always been my favourite" she smiled as she took a sip of tea, glad to see Sybil smiling, even though she still detected sadness.

"You're worried that you'll be going to London soon aren't you?"

"Two years, it's hardly soon"

"It'll go quickly my girl, I can assure you that. But if that's not worrying you then what is?"

Sybil let out a huge sigh and slumped in her chair, a sight that would have caused her grandmother to faint; she was very informal around Elsie and enjoyed the opportunity to be unladylike.

"I don't know, I just don't like how fast things are going, I remember being so small I could fit on your lap while you worked, being small enough so Mr Carson could twirl me around above his head. Now… now I'm told it's not right to constantly come down here, you're right I am _soon _going to London and Mary was engaged and she's only 20. Am I to be engaged soon as well? It's just all so silly and why am I the only one that understands?" She'd begun to get very angry as she spoke but her voice was wavering. "My family have always preferred Mary, she's the pretty one, she's the eldest, the most ladylike, she's the one they love, we were just attempts at getting a boy!" She began to cry. "You're the only one that's always been there for me, no one else has, but they're making me grow up, I don't want to have to be this girl they're making me into - I feel so alone!" Elsie got up and knelt in front of her, holding her hands.

"You're not the only one, I understand. I've watched you grow up, I wish there weren't so many rules for you as well." She stroked the tears of her cheek, "You're not alone, you've told me anything that's been bothering you for 12 years and as long as I live I promise to be here for you even if I've retired, I'll always be here for you. You've been like a daughter to me and I never like to see you unhappy and I'll always do what I can to make you happier."

Sybil smiled through her tears and whispered "thank you."

Elsie stood up and sat on the arm of the chair, allowing Sybil to lean on her as she held her. How many times had she sat with her arms around this girl, comforting her? More times than her mother had, whether her Ladyship even knew Sybil had ever cried as a child was unknown. She felt a small resentment towards her employer but it had always been Sybil's choice to come and see her, she hadn't encouraged her but she'd never turned her away.  
>She was serious when she said she would always be there for Sybil, but could she guarantee Sybil would always be there for her, she guessed it was her strong love for the girl, similar to her love for Charles, she didn't want to <em>think<em> about life without either of them and she couldn't bear to be without them.

After a while she no longer heard Sybil crying but her soft voice saying "It's a shame really."

"What is?" She pushed Sybil back so she could face her.

"When I leave and get married, I would have loved you to come with me and be my ladies maid"

Elsie laughed, "If you want an ancient ladies maid"

"You're always referring to yourself as old. If you want my opinion, I don't think you're old at all, you certainly don't look it, and anyway, your age is just a number, it's how old you feel that matters."

Elsie sighed and tapped Sybil's nose as she always did when she said something cute.

"Oh, I can always rely on you to say something sweet to make me smile"

"Well, if you're going to believe me on anything, let it be that. When I'm upset and you hold and comfort me, I don't feel fifteen, I feel about five again. I don't feel silly and childish though, I feel young and loved again. I miss the days of being able to sit on your lap."

"I miss them too, you could try now but I can't guarantee how long the chair would stay up."

"I can imagine Mr Carson would find that rather funny."

They laughed at the thought of Mr Carson's face as he rushed in to see what the noise was, to find Lady Sybil lying on top of Elsie in hysterics.  
>And when Mr Carson then came into the room it sent the two of them into fits of laughter,<p>

"Oh dear, it's quite disconcerting to enter a room and the proprietors suddenly burst into laughter." He pretended to be offended but he smiled, the sight of both Elsie and Sybil laughing warmed his heart.

"Ohh, I'm sorry Mr Carson" Elsie rubbed her sides and stood up, "was there something you wanted?"

"Her Ladyship is looking for Lady Sybil"

"Eurgh" Sybil stood up and rubbed her eyes. Both Elsie and Charles smiled at her, she was very much a teenager now but still had that childlike twinkle in her eye.

"Thank you Mrs Hughes, I appreciate you being here for me."

"My pleasure"

Mr Carson moved aside to open the door for Sybil to leave.

"Milady?" Sybil turned around, "don't worry, it'll all be fine."

All she could do was nod to avoid crying again and went down the corridor to go up the stairs.

Charles was about to leave but pushed the door to instead, he turned to Elsie and wrapped his free arm around her waist.

"Why is it whenever she comes in here she seems to start crying. I can't imagine it helps you to have to comfort her all the time?"

"Well no, I don't like to see her upset, but I want to help her through, this is a tough time for her."

"For all of them" All she could do was nod, of course, there was his soft spot for Lady Mary. She would never have the same fondness for her that he did. But never the less she didn't argue with his affections, as he didn't with hers for Sybil.

He kissed her forehead and unwrapped his arm,

"I'll come by later with a glass of wine, maybe we can curl up on the sofa and you can be comforted for once."

"I'd like that" she held onto his hand and looked directly into his eyes, "you'd better go."

"I suppose so" he stuck his bottom lip out and she gently slapped his arm, she heard him chuckle as he left.

She couldn't help but think of those words that Charles'd said 'why is it whenever she comes in here she seems to start crying?' It seemed every time she came in, one of them ended up crying. Maybe Sybil felt she couldn't cry in front of anyone else. Maybe Sybil really did think she didn't have anyone else.

Maybe Elsie really was all that girl had.

**I only realised halfway through that most of these have been in Elsie's sitting room and they've been crying, I'm sorry that they're so similar, but I wanted to have the same kind of situations but with Sybil at different ages.  
>Please tell me what you think :)<strong>


	4. Twenty

**I'm going to try and make sure this chapter isn't filled with Sybil simply crying in Elsie's sitting room. Funnily enough, between this chapter and the last, the war has been and gone ;) This is set early December before Sybil turns 21 so therefore she's;**

Twenty

She awoke as early as usual, her normal routine would be to dress herself and make her way downstairs to make her rounds. She might be mistaken for one of the servants, but she wasn't; she was Lady Sybil Crawley, youngest daughter of the Earl of Grantham, yet she got up at the same time as the kitchen maids and acted more like the servants than her family – she wasn't what they'd expected that was for sure.  
>But now she awoke without a need to get up, the war was over and she would have to return to being a lady and hang her nurse's uniform up for the last time.<p>

She turned over in her bed to see her uniform, hung as it always was, she felt a tear slide down her cheek, she didn't want things to go back to the way they were. As horrifying as war was, she had to admit it gave her a whole new purpose in life, she knew what it was to work and to feel useful, her sisters helped when the house became a convalescent home but they weren't proper nurses and didn't seem to mind everything going back to normal – she did, she minded very much.  
>The room was cold as the fire wasn't lit while she was a nurse, the only light was the dim light from the moon, it was dark for too long now it was winter. The clock read almost half past five, she couldn't very well simply go back to sleep, she'd have to do something.<br>She got out of bed, put her tiny feet into her slippers and pulled on her robe, checking her hair wasn't too messy, she quietly opened the door and left her room.

The only sound was the quiet patting of her slippers against the floor; she stood with her hands on the rail leaning over the see the hall, now devoid of tables as it had been set up, it was now back as it used to be. Looking out over what she was destined to have, she should one day be married to an equally rich man and have her own estate, bring up her own daughters to be ladies and do everything that is expected of them, never to rebel against the rules, simply to obey and know that's their place. Or she could have what she wanted, she could be with someone she loved, she could work, have money enough to support herself but not so much she was supposedly better than other people. She could have her ticket out of this life, he was waiting, he was willing to wait forever for her. Could she really turn him down? She knew she loved him, but she wasn't yet sure if she should take the risk. She knew her family would disapprove but she was perfectly happy to be friends with everyone while being married to Branson – she saw no problem, unfortunately they did.  
>She'd have to make this decision on her own, her main confidant would never agree it was a good idea, her maid wouldn't risk her job by agreeing, her lover would clearly want her to be with him and her family were the whole issue. She was left alone; her three friends were all biased on the matter. So she had a boring, pointless life with a forbidden romance thrown in just to shake things up.<br>She sighed and it was echoed through the empty corridor, walking down the stairs she felt as if every step she was taking was dragging her back to her old life. Starting in the library, she walked through every room, taking in the emptiness of each one. She reached the drawing room and had a flashback of a moment from sixteen years ago; _she'd been sitting on the settee in the drawing room, her sisters on either side of her, being 7 and 9, their feet could reach the floor but hers were too short so she sat there swinging them. Her grandmother had been droning on about something to their mother and completely ignoring them but as ladies they were supposed to 'sit there and look nice.' Her eyes wandered around the room, taking in all the grandeur that she would one day come to appreciate (her grandmother's words.) Her eyes fell to the tall, intimidating butler standing near the door staring blankly ahead, until he noticed a pair of big blue eyes looking intently at him, he looked down at her and winked, he wasn't half as intimidating when he smiled at her; she couldn't help but blush and look away, pretending she hadn't been looking. She pretended to be interested in what her grandmother was saying, until she heard the door open; her head whipped round causing her hair to hit Edith in the face, she beamed up to her ears when she saw the housekeeper walk in._

She never knew why she remembered that, she didn't remember anything after it, simply that she'd been so happy to see Mrs Hughes. She remembered her body warming up and she couldn't stop smiling at her, she was glad the woman had taken a shine to her as she constantly followed her around. That day had been one of Cora's attempts to make her more interested in family matters – she was only four and they already suspected something was different about her.  
>She turned to leave the room, wherever she went there were memories of how she disliked her life and how she'd always preferred to be with Mrs Hughes.<p>

She turned and walked towards the stairs, not the main stairs, but the servant's stairs, she was taking a risk by doing this, but she'd always promised to be there for her no matter what. She might not have meant at six in the morning but she went none the less.

Elsie had just woken; she sat at her small mirror, brushing her hair as she did every morning. She sighed as she looked at it, for once she'd like to wear it down, but it was highly inappropriate for her to do so. She left it lying over her shoulders as she walked to her wardrobe, she was scared out of her wits however to hear a knock at the door, who would be knocking on her door at quarter to six? She had no need of Daisy to wake her up as she woke earlier than all the other maids anyway. She opened it and was even more shocked as she saw who was there,

"Lady Sybil, what on earth are you doing up here?" she whispered, rather too fiercely, the way she would address a maid.

"I I'm sorry , I just wanted to come and see you" she was rather taken aback, but seeing the scared expression on the young girls face, Elsie's features softened and she moved aside to let Sybil enter the room. Sitting cross legged on the bed, Sybil got a pretty good idea of just how different their worlds were by the size and style of Elsie's room.  
>Sitting on an armchair opposite, Elsie put her hands on her lap;<p>

"What was it you wanted to see me about?" she smiled sweetly.

"Oh, I don't know, I was just wandering the house"

"At this time of morning?"

"I would normally be up now, I haven't been able to alter my body clock" she looked down at her lap. Elsie leant over and covered one of Sybil's small hands with her own.

"You'll find something to do m'girl. They'll keep you busy no doubt." Confused as to why she received a pair eyes rolling at this she continued;

"You knew this would happen eventually, things change."

"Not fast enough" she mumbled angrily, looking away before looking back at Elsie, her bright blue eyes outshining Elsie's, although blue they didn't have quite the same sparkle that Sybil's had . But despite their sparkly nature, they were now piercing Elsie's, filled with anger and isolation.

Elsie took her hand away, sat up straight and looked right back at her.

"I'm not going to lecture you on what you already know, I won't encourage it either. But I won't tell you you can't as I'm not your mother"

"You're as good as. Mostly better" Sybil interrupted, never taking her eyes off Elsie.  
>Elsie felt her heart warm at this statement, of course it wasn't in her nature to get into competition with her employer as to who could be the most popular but she couldn't help but be happy that her surrogate daughter thought her to be good mother material.<p>

"Even so, you know what'll happen. You run the risk of being cut off from your family. As much as you love Branson, is it really worth it? You must listen to reason my lady"

"Did that ever stop you?"

"W w what?"

"Did reason ever stop you from entering a romance that was technically forbidden and could cost someone their job?" her words were harsh but unintentionally offensive.

"Lady Sybil! I I…" she looked away, defeated, how could she as s hypocrite tell Sybil she couldn't marry Branson when she had secretly married Charles just a few years ago.

"You still call yourself Mrs Hughes. If you cared about reason wouldn't you both have left? And if you didn't care about what people thought, wouldn't you admit to everyone that your name is now Elsie Carson? How can you tell me that I shouldn't do anything silly, when I'm pretty sure you waited a few years to marry, thinking it was a silly idea."

Elsie sat with her mouth hanging open, she'd never thought her entire situation through before but now she did she could see just how irresponsible it all seemed.

"What we did isn't as wrong as what you plan to do"

"They're not that different!"

"They're different enough for me to be able to tell you that marrying Branson, however wonderful it may seem, would be utterly wrong."

"Marriage should be about love - you should know that"

"Yes but we're the same..." she broke off and sucked in her breath.

"Your what, the same class?"

"Yes" she muttered and looked down.

"You know how I hate the class system, that's why Branson and I are so well suited. We have the same opinion"

"Yes but Sybil you have to think how people will react"

"How can you say this to me? Why should it matter what people think as long as you're happy in love, isnt that why you married Mr Carson or is it a secret so you get to keep your jobs"

"I married him because I love him"

"But you thought you'd be sacked if people found out. Servants arent meant to have relationships within the house and you've not only done that but you've got married aswell - as housekeeper you should set an example but no, you've broken the rules too. Now you're trying to tell me what _my _rules are, you cant think I'm going to accept it from you do you? Yes I may want marry someone who isnt from my class but at least I'm supposed to be marrying at some point, my family want me to marry someone."

"But not a servant!"

"He's going to be a journalist soon, he's getting a job in Ireland if we marry"

"It wont change anything my lady, they wont accept it"

"I couldnt care less. Im marrying him because I love him, like you married Mr Carson - for love, not appropriatness!"

"Is that how you think of my marriage? Inappropriate?"

"No but I wish you would see that you dont need to care what other people think."

"I dont need to, everything is fine as it is" she was speaking shortly, annoyed at being

"Is it? Sneaking around? Though you already spend enough time with each other, I guess people dont notice. But I dont care if people know about myself and Branson, we will marry regardless of what others said. If my family turn me away, so be it, I would have thought, would have hoped that you, as my one true friend, would support me, clearly i have misjudged your character!"

They sat in stunned silence, Sybil, breathing heavily and looking straight at Elsie and she saw a single tear fall down her cheek and into her lap.

"Oh god Mrs Hughes!" Sybil clasped her hands over her mouth, realised the sting of what she'd just said. "I'm so so sorry! Everything is just… Oh I have no excuse, that was just unnecessary"

They were silent for a moment before Elsie spoke,

"It's alright. You're right, I have no right to tell you what to do with your life." She didn't say it sharply, but with meaning.

"No, you're simply doing what's best for me. You're caring about me as you always have done, you've always been here for me, I have grown up under your influence. It's me that doesn't have the right to speak to you like that."

They smiled sadly at each other,

"Anyone would think I'm a _bad_ influence one you." They looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Hardly. You've always been the best influence on me I could ever find."

"You flatter me far too much m'girl."

"I speak the truth Mrs Hughes, but don't worry; I will think carefully before I do anything, you taught me that."

"Well I'm glad I taught you something." She winked at her, "I dont want to be the influence on your descison, choose what you feel is right, but do think about the consequences. But never turn your back on who you are, doing things entirely because you have to rather than what your heart wants, I dont want you to turn out like your eldest sister." She smiled sadly and upon heard a door shutting outside her room, she glanced at the clock.

"I'd better get going milady, but you can come and see me anytime. You know that" They both got up and Sybil went to the door.

"Thank you Mrs Hughes, I always appreciate you being here for me, even when I talk to you like I did. I am sorry"

"Don't be milady. You never need apologise to me."

"I should though. Just so you know, I've never thought your marriage to be wrong, in any way. I just wish you'd told people, we could have celebrated. Thank you though, for everything."

"It's no problem" she smiled and squeezed Sybil's arm. Sybil looked at it before hugging her instead. She left and quickly hurried to her room. She had a lot of thinking to do.

**I have three new story ideas that I want to begin, unfortunately I have to finish this and Bruises On The Heart before I can start them. I'll do a couple more chapters of this one :) As for Bruises On The Heart, I can't write the final chapter until I hear which ending is desired by the readers, so my new stories need to be put aside until I can get these finished. **

**I'm sorry if the bit about the similarities between the Carson's marriage and the Branson's marriage are confusing. I've tried to alter it to convey what I meant but please please review :) **


	5. Twenty Five

**Haha, I've been writing Bruises on the Heart but I thought I'd keep you waiting just a little longer :p  
>This one is obviously another 5 years later, Sybil left and got married when she turned 22, she's now coming back for Mary and Matthews wedding (imagine they've only just got together) :)<strong>

Twenty Five

"Look Cora, I'm not saying I don't want Sybil here…"

"You just don't want Tom" she finished for him, beginning to lose her patience.

"Do you?"

"Yes I do, Sybil loves him, one day he'll be the father of our grandchildren, he didn't exactly steal her away and we can hardly forbid him from staying here and before you say anything, he will stay in Sybil's room _with _her, I'm not letting you put him in the servants quarters!"

"I wasn't going to suggest that, simply that he might find it quite awkward being upstairs for once"

"So you want Sybil to go down and eat with the servants?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't have a problem with that!"

Cora simply made a face and stormed off, true, she could be unfeeling at times but she wasn't about to shun her daughter simply because of who she married. Robert however, despite saying he wanted to part friends, was still completely against the idea of Branson being part of the family – he really was insufferable.

Edith watched as Cora stormed away and looked back at Robert,

"What was that about?"

"Sybil"

"Mama doesn't want Branson hear?"

"No she does, it's me, I never agreed to their marriage but now he has to come here as well?"

"What did you expect, they'd marry and you'd never see them again?"

"It seemed to be what _she _wanted"

"Sybil loves you both; she used to be your favourite"

"I never had favourites" he insisted,

"Oh, you did" she smiled sadly at the floor and walked off. Robert was sure that women tried to convey a message without even saying anything; they didn't seem to understand that he couldn't read minds.

Edith entered the drawing room, expecting to find her mother but instead finding Mary;

"Oh have you seen Mama?"

"Yes, she was just in here. She's in a terrible mood, papa doesn't want Tom to come but mama refuses to turn them away." She rolled her eyes and looked out of the window.

"I heard, I suppose we were all caught up with the prospect of them marrying, no one thought about the aftermath" they both sighed, they loved their sister dearly but she certainly knew how to cause problems.

"Are you alright? You don't look … well, happy." Mary looked over tiredly,

"I'm fine, I am happy, just tired. As odd as it may sound, I'm not one for being in the limelight, not anymore." She smiled cheekily at her, ever since Sybil had grown up and left the two of them had sorted out their differences and were surprisingly close now. Edith walked over to Mary and placed her hand on her arm, smiling, she wasn't sure why but some form of understanding past between them. Mary left without saying where she was going but Edith knew, she knew Mary wondered the house at night, the gardens if it was summer, she wasn't sleeping well, haunted by two ghosts that stood in the way of Matthew.  
>She hadn't heard anyone come into the room until she heard a familiar voice calling her name;<p>

"Lady Edith?" she turned round to see Mrs Hughes standing beside the door, with a perplexed look.

"Yes Mrs Hughes, sorry."

"If you're looking for your mother I'm afraid she's gone up to bathe"

Edith sighed, "Ok, thank you"

Mrs Hughes smiled and turned to leave, "Mrs Hughes?"

"Yes my lady?"

"Do you think Sybil should come for Christmas?"

"I...It's not my place to say m'lady"

"Yes it is, you're her second mother Mrs Hughes, if anyone else should be asked it should be you."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing her again, it's been a while since I've seen her" she tried to answer in a way that couldn't be manipulated into an argument against her employer.

"You've missed her haven't you?"

Mrs Hughes looked up; sometimes it was if everyone could read her thoughts,

"Yes I have milady"

Edith smiled thoughtfully, both she and Mrs Hughes were the ones that suffered most from Sybil leaving, being the closest to her, everyone else did miss her but had become hugely side tracked compared to the pair of them. Edith squeezed Elsie's wrist and walked around her, out of the door.

"So, her ladyship got her own way then"

She spun round, half frightened to see Charles leaning against the doorframe of her sitting room.

"She did yes; Mr and Mrs Branson are to arrive tomorrow afternoon. Though I gather it wasn't just his Lordship that was against them coming." She sighed and turned back to her desk,

"Branson didn't think it was his scene?"

"No, it was Sybil actually; she hadn't been looking forward to the prospect of coming back, as much as they've accepted her marriage the tension in the air's still a little too thick for her liking." She rubbed her head, attempting to get rid of the migraine she was developing, when she felt Charles's arms slide around her waist;

"I take it you've shut the door?"

"Yes I did"

She leant her head back against his shoulder and closed her eyes, wishing she could stay there forever.

"What are you thinking?" he leant down to lightly kiss her neck and stroke it with his nose, happy to see her smile return.

"Oh nothing just that… well it's been three years and Sybil still doesn't think her marriage is acceptable, we've been married nearly five years, is our marriage acceptable yet?"

He paused for a while before diverting her from her question, "you want to tell them?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I want to; sometimes I'm glad we haven't. But sometimes I want the freedom to be able to kiss you in public, to hold your hand to be in your arms if I'm sad without the fear that people might see! I want to wear my wedding ring, to be able to tell people my name isn't Elsie Hughes anymore, I want to be the Mrs I _really _am, not someone I used to be. That's not me anymore; this is me, with you."

He turned her round to face him,

"Elsie, I had no idea you felt that strongly towards the matter. Why haven't you said before we could have spoken out months ago!"

"I've only recently decided that'd how I feel, but if we are going to tell them, let's wait till Lady Mary and Mr Crawley leave for their honeymoon, let things die down a little!

"Then again, we could tell them now, they can hardly do without a Butler and Housekeeper right now"

"I don't want to risk it" she sighed again, flinching slightly as her headache got worse.

"Go and lie down darling"

She looked in astonishment at him,

"You think after five years I can't notice when my wife's unwell, go on, to bed with you, I'll inform Anna." He kissed her on the cheek as she left, she walked slower than normal as she did when she was ill, leaning against the railing of the stairs as she ascended them – he worried about her whenever she became quieter than normal, then even more when she was ill.  
>He spent the rest of the morning working; he finished it in time to get some of her work down. As it came to lunchtime, he sat back in his chair and pondered over what she'd said, he would only ever do what she wanted but he was quietly confident that they wouldn't be sacked; she was just as valuable to the family as he was.<p>

There was a knock at the door and Anna looked in,

"Luncheon is served Mr Carson"

"Thank you Anna, you might want to pop up and tell Mrs Car…Hughes, she may not want to come down but tell her all the same" he smiled, hoping she didn't notice his near slip of the tongue; luckily she didn't and quickly hurried off.  
>They waited for a few minutes but Charles allowed them to begin without her, after a while Anna reappeared, Anna gave him a grim look and whispered as she walked past;<p>

"She's been sick Mr Carson but I convinced her to come and eat something," Elsie slowly followed looking pale and the two women took their usual seats attracting little attention from the rest of the staff. The majority had finished and Charles noticed Elsie had barely eaten anything and was pushing the food around her plate,

"Are you alright?" he leaned over and took hold of her hand under the table.

"Yes, I'm… fine" she didn't look at him but closed her eyes, placed her hand on her forehead and took a deep breath in, shaking slightly. He immediately stood up, holding her arm he pulled her up, placing the other hand on her back as he led her swiftly out of the servant's hall and towards the downstairs bathroom. Anna was soon to come and see what was wrong;

"Make sure she stays in bed for the rest of the afternoon Anna, if she's any better tell me and she can go to her sitting room but no more work." He instructed as he left her to take Elsie back upstairs. He went to dismiss the rest of the staff, rushing off to avoid any questions on Elsie.

He entered the library with his usual poise and found his Lordship alone at his desk;

"Ah Carson, is anything the matter?"

"Yes milord, Mrs Hughes has been taken ill, she'll be fine but she's gone to bed for now"

"Do we need to telephone for Dr Clarkson?" much to Charles's surprise, Robert stood up looking panic stricken.

"No no, I daresay Anna will be able to take care of her your lordship, and you know Mrs Hughes, she doesn't like any unnecessary attention"

"Indeed" Robert chuckled, sitting back down "hopefully she'll have recovered by tomorrow"

"For Lady Sybil's return?"

"Yes that…" he broke off and gazed blankly out of the window.

"Anything the matter my lord?"

"Just that, she's not Lady Sybil anymore; she's Mrs Branson, no longer my little girl. She's her own woman making all her own decisions no matter how outrageous"

Charles wasn't sure how he was supposed to reply to that but luckily Robert carried on;

"If we need any sense talked into her, I gather we can still rely on Mrs Hughes, she's been the only one who can get through to that girl – twenty years of trying but no, Mrs Hughes has always been the favourite."

"I gather she always had a soft spot for Lady Sybil."

"Well, who couldn't, those huge sapphire eyes, long dark curls, a real daddy's girl. Do you think we did something wrong Carson?"

"Not at all my lord! As you said, she makes her own decisions; I know there were times when even Mrs Hughes couldn't talk any sense into her."

"I suppose, well I'm feeling more optimistic on the concept now, Tom's a kind enough fellow and clearly makes her happy – that's all any father wants for his little girl."

"Indeed my lord" he had to speak from presumption rather than experience, "will that be all?"

"Yes thank you Carson please let me know how Mrs Hughes is"

"Of course milord" he left with the same poise but a little more confidence in his heart, enough to make him take a little risk and ascend the maids staircase rather than the men's.  
>She was lying on her side fiddling with her hair when he entered, she was rather surprised for him to do this during the day but she was pleased to see him.<p>

"How are you feeling, any better?"

"I am now you're here" she extended her hand, beckoning him forward; he knelt beside her bed and held it, gently stroking it and kissing it.

"Much better now" she smiled coyly, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just went to his Lordship to inform him you were in bed"

"Oh you didn't, Charles you know I don't like…"

"…unnecessary attention, yes I know but I needed to tell him"

She huffed and rolled her eyes, but noticed there was something different about the way he looked at her, there was far less worry in his eyes as there had been earlier.

"Charles, what it is?"

He sighed and stroked some hair behind her ear, "I think we should tell them."

"That we're married?"

"Yes"

"Are you sure? You don't mind risking your job? What's made you so sure all of a sudden?"

"Yes I'm quite sure, you see when I spoke to his Lordship and I mentioned you were ill, he immediately sprang to his feet and asked if we should get the doctor, he looked almost as worried as I was"

"And that means he won't mind the fact I'm married to you?"

"If he was that worried about you, it means he cares about you – he wouldn't turn you out of a job, I'm sure of it. This place barely functions when _you're_ not there, let alone is we were both gone, do you fancy leaving this place in the hands of Miss O'Brien?"

"Dear god no, but are you sure about this?"

"As sure as I was when I asked you to marry me in the first place"

She laughed softly but let out a yawn, "anyway, you my wonderful wife need to sleep and I need to go and instruct Anna on getting the guest rooms ready"

"Say that again – the beginning bit"

"My wonderful wife" he leant forward and kissed her forehead as she closed her eyes and smiled. "And soon I'll be able to do that in public without a care in the world besides you." He left her nodding off, lingering by the door to watch her, as interesting as linens were, he'd much prefer to be up here with her.

The next morning didn't go all to plan, Elsie hadn't come down for breakfast, they'd been informed by Anna that she was better but not fully recovered. Charles so desperately wanted to go and see her but the morning was filled with last minute preparations for the Branson's arrival. By the time he had a moment to breath, it was time for the staff to congregate out on the drive, he knew this would not be what neither Sybil or Tom would want but they had to do it regardless.  
>The couple arrived and stood uncomfortably in front of everyone, there was silence until Cora smiled and embraced Sybil, while Robert shook Tom's hand. Charles couldn't tell if the air was fully cleared or if everyone just wore a very realistic mask. He allowed the family to enter the house so he could close the door before walking over and standing near Robert. Before Anna and William could get to them, Tom and Sybil had taken their own coats off, triggering a smirk from Mary; they simply had their coats taken from them and there was finally a dash of uneasiness in Tom's face.<br>They were once again placed in an edgy silence before Sybil looked up;

"Mrs Hughes!" She shrieked causing everyone to jump and look round, Elsie was wearing her usual dress with her hair slightly looser; she looked better but still worryingly pale. She smiled slightly and addressed Lady Grantham;

"I'm sorry my lady for not making it down, I tried but Anna felt I shouldn't be standing up too long"

"It's quite alright Mrs Hughes, I'm just glad you're feeling better" she placed a reassuring hand on Elsie's arm.  
>Sybil stepped forward and took everyone by surprise by hugging Elsie;<p>

"It's lovely to see you Mrs Hughes, it's been far too long"  
>Elsie was unsure as to how to respond to this awkward hug but she lightly tapped Sybil's back,<p>

"It's good to see you too my lady"

She glanced at Cora, who, sensing the tension suggested they should all retire to the drawing room for tea. It was only Sybil who stayed back with Elsie, when she held her arm to prevent her following her family.

"How far gone are you?" She asked bluntly, despite knowing exactly what she meant, Sybil pretended she didn't so Elsie'd explain.  
>"You did just hug me; you've always been very slender so I did notice"<p>

Sybil stared at her open mouthed but with a shameful expression,

"14 weeks give or take"

Elsie sighed, "When are you going to tell them?"

"I don't know, I can't tell them before the wedding, but if you've noticed Mama probably will as well" she looked down; her bump was small, but big enough to be noticed slightly.

"You just be careful my girl, I can't tell looking at you from the front; only when you stand sideways on or hug me so just avoid that and you should be safe until the wedding's over. I presume Tom knows"

"Yes I told him straight away"

"How did he react?"

"He's overjoyed, he can't wait to have a child, and I know he'll be a good father – he's taking such good care of me."

Elsie smiled, she regretted having initial prejudices against the marriage as she could now see that it worked perfectly, a little awkwardly but perfect for them and that was all that mattered. Despite her parent's doubts, the news about their first grandchild would certainly dispose of those doubts.

"Well, I'm very happy for you both. And just so's you know, we're planning to tell people about our marriage after the wedding too – so it looks like all the secrets are coming out.

They both laughed,

"Yes I suppose they are, how are things between you and Mr Carson?"

"Never better, things are always a little complicated but when it comes down to it, we have each other and that's what matters"

"My words exactly."

Charles then came out of the drawing rooms and approached the two women,

"Lady Sybil, your mother is wondering where you are"

Sybil rolled her eyes and both Charles and Elsie repressed their laughter, she strode off and as Charles was about to follow he felt a little hand at his shoulder, turning him round and bringing his head down so his lips were in close proximity with hers;

"Better have smelling salts at the ready, who knows what the next few days will bring" she tittered and kissed him lightly before sauntering off back to her room leaving him dumbfounded and wondering what on earth she meant.

**I am doing an epilogue because I have thought of an idea ;) As you can tell, I've kept William (and Bates) but got rid of Thomas – oh if only. Hope you still like this one, please review.**


	6. Thirty

**Final chapter :D This set 5 years later again, in the five years Sybil has had three children :)  
>Sybil is 30 and Mrs Carson is 61, hard to imagine tbh. Charlie – 7, Charlotte (Lottie) – 5, Grace – 3, Edward – 11 months<br>(Apologies if the timings are technically wrong for their ages)**

**Enjoy though, please take the time to review.o**

Thirty

"Now don't go too far, I need to be able to see where you both are and make sure you look after Grace" she said as she took off the younger girls' hat and smoothed out her hair,

"Yes mama" the older girl gave her a quick peck on the cheek and grabbed her sisters hand and they skipped off,

"Keep an eye on them both Charlie now, have fun" Elsie tussled his scarlet hair and let him race off to catch up. He was quite tall for his age so easily caught them up, as he came up behind Lottie, he bent down and picked her up causing her to squeal in delight;

"I want up!" demanded Grace, laughing, Charlie put Lottie down and twirled Grace around instead.  
>The two women smiled at them from afar,<p>

"He's quite the ladies' man, already" Sybil laughed, "are you alright with him there?" she nodded towards the infant lying in Elsie's arms,

"Yeah, he's fine" she smiled down at the boy, her finger filling his tiny hand as he gripped it tightly; she rocked him gently and looked up to find Sybil staring at her.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, you just look so natural, with him"

Elsie didn't reply but simply looked back down at him, this little boy, this tiny little boy – her fourth godchild and just a beautiful as the others.

"He's a beautiful wee boy"

"My little boy, the youngest"

"Little bit favouritistic are we?"

"A little, he's my only boy and the others are both daddies' girls. But he's my little boy" she reached over and stroked his foot, sticking out from underneath the blanket. "My little Edward" they both gazed at his face, his little perfect face, eyes tightly shut, a slight smile on his lips. The kind of face you couldn't help but smile at. They were broken from their gaze by more squealing from the hill, they looked up to see Charlie chasing the two girls between the trees.

"He's a good boy isn't he, responsible and mature, only seven but he looks after them brilliantly"

"He's been brought up well, taught a lot from his mother"

"How is Ethel?"

"Oh very well, she's getting married soon. He gets along with Charlie; he's taken quite a shine to boy."

"Does he know, about Major Bryant?"

"I'm not sure, I think she's been honest; Charlie's father is a soldier who died but she's just not told him the whole truth. I think it's easier anyway, she's not effectively lying to him and I'm glad she's settling down."

"So no more flirtatious behaviour?"

"I think that stopped when we… I, sacked her. I've helped her but gradually she's grown up of her own accord"

"Shame it took a child to spark it"

"Mmmm" she brushed a stray piece of hair from Edwards face, he stirred and opened his big blue eyes, staring right up into hers, he pouted and began to wriggle in her arm

"He'll want feeding" Elsie stated and lifted Edward back to Sybil, who smiled.

"You can just tell can you? Have you two got some sort of telepathic connection I don't know about?"

Elsie laughed, "The way he's now woken up, he's moving his mouth around and wriggling – meaning he wants feeding"

Sybil smiled and got out the little bottle of milk she'd packed; Edward opened his mouth eagerly and drank, his eyes fixated on his mother.

"Do you miss not having your own children?"

Elsie's head shot up at this change of topic, but she saw Sybil looking with genuine interest.

"Sometimes, but I have my god children to keep me busy"

"I suppose so, with your marriage and job, having four of them to look after occasionally must be enough work" she winked at her and turned her head to watch her daughters.

"I've always been good at multi-tasking. Did your mother mind that you named me god mother?" she frowned at Sybil, as flattered as she had been at finding she and Charles would be god parents to all the Branson children, she did already have Charlie as her god son and was worried at how the family would react to their housekeeper being god mother to their grandchildren.

"Not at all. She said you were a good choice, she knows how important you are to me, anyway, it had to be someone who wasn't already family and I knew you'd take care of them and they adore you!"

Elsie blushed; she never quite knew how she'd managed to become the best friend and confidant of Lady Sybil Crawley, simply starting as someone the girl would come to when she needed a cuddle. She'd gone from that to supporting the girl as she became the Lady she'd been destined to become, then having to help her choose the right path when it came to Branson – supporting her through everything. They then hadn't seen each other for years as Sybil appeared to live in exile from her family but they wrote to each other, they never failed to reply to one other. It was a comfort for Elsie, she felt that Sybil had been sent away, despite her reassuring everyone that she wanted to, Elsie liked to feel that Sybil hadn't been completely cut off from them. But as peace had finally been made she'd returned, with a little more than they'd all bargained for. Lady Grantham had made sure that Sybil was back at Downton during her ninth month of pregnancy and sure enough the baby was born within a week of her arrival. Elsie'd been there, she was reminded of thee night Lady Grantham had given birth to Sybil, Elsie'd held her hand, laid a cold flannel on her forehead and finally been the first person to hold Sybil as she arrived into the world.  
>Being there on the night of Lottie's birth had been a magical moment for Elsie, she had been the only servant there; Anna having left, O'Brien being tokophobic and none of the other maids experienced enough to help. So it had been down to Elsie to deliver little Lottie. This tiny little girl, her little head fitting in Elsie's palm, her entire body no longer that Elsie's arm, this tiny little human that would become one of the most special children she would ever know, Charlotte Elisabeth Branson - named for her. Sybil never told anyone else the real reason her eldest daughter was called Charlotte, simply that the name was very dear to her, which it was, but even more so for Elsie, a very special girl with a very special name.<p>

The names of her children had always been very significant to Sybil, she was worried if people thought her reasons were a little extreme, but true to form she disregarded what everyone else thought and stuck to what she wanted. Charlotte had been her first choice for her daughter, her first toy being the doll that Elsie'd helped name all those years ago. When questioned by Elsie as to her choice, she countered by questioning her on why she loved the name; upon hearing it was the name Elsie always hoped to call her own daughter, she decided it was definite that she would call her that. They shortened it to Lottie when Grace could first talk, she couldn't say Charlotte so they'd all chosen Lottie. The middle name was the same, one that wasn't obvious as to why she'd choose it, simply a nice name to those unobservant but she knew why she'd chosen it. Elsie's full name. She knew Elsie'd never allow her to call her Elsie - it was far too obvious and she would feel comfortable let alone the family, so Elisabeth had been chosen. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl they'd both remarked. It hadn't taken long for her to become Elsie's favourite – much as Sybil had.  
>The second time, Sybil had stayed in Ireland to have Grace, naming the girl this as she was over joyed at how rewarding motherhood was. Upon the birth of Emma, Tom held her in his arms and commented that he was graced with another perfect daughter; this led to their decision that she would be called Grace Eleanor Branson.<br>Then finally Edward (Sybil's favourite though she didn't like to admit it,) her first son. He had been born in Yorkshire but having been born premature; the family were left in terrifying suspense as he was placed in hospital in a critical condition. A week of tension and fear, he survived and was introduced properly to the family, Edward Robert Branson.  
>Sometimes Sybil would lie in bed, Tom's thumb stroking her hand in his sleep. But she just thought of how things had changed and after everything they'd been through she wouldn't have it any other way. Her three children were a blessing to them and the as perfect as she could ever wish for.<p>

"Aunt Elsie…" she looked down to see Grace tugging at her skirt, she'd been so distracted she hadn't even noticed her toddle up.

"Yes Grace?"

"Please can I sit on your lap?"

"Of course dear, are you alright?" she picked up the child effortlessly and sat her on her lap.

"Yes, but I'm tired. The other two run faster than me"

Elsie chuckled and pulled the girl close,

"You'll catch them up one day m'girl, don't worry"

"Mmmm" Grace mumbled against Elsie's coat, she looked down to see Grace's eyes closed and her gradually nodding off, Elsie smiled and glanced up at Sybil who was gently rocking Edward but watching Grace.

"She does tire easily, especially when she's been running about, she prefers to sit and be quiet – quite the Edith of the family" they both laughed and turned their attention back to Lottie and Charlie who were sitting under a tree talking and fiddling with the grass.

"Do you think they're just friends?"

"Sybil! They're seven and five! You surely can't be pairing them up already" She turned in shock but sighed in defeat when she saw Sybil laughing uncontrollably.

"I was joking. It's just sweet seeing them together; Charlie said she was his best friend and we all know what happens when you spend years very close to your best friend" she looked cunningly at Elsie who rolled her eyes.

"Give them fifteen years at least!"

As the evening dawned, they had to get back to prepare for dinner; they packed up their little picnic and began their walk back to Downton, Edward in Sybil's arms while Elsie held Grace. She glanced back to see Charlie and Lottie walking behind hand in hand, she nudged Sybil's shoulder and nodded her head in their direction, Sybil smiled;

"What did I tell you?" She winked.

As they reached Downton, they reached the point where they parted, the part Sybil always hated. She tried so hard to break the social divide between them and she'd done it successfully but the house caused the divide the rebuild itself – Elsie would have to go around to the back door, while Sybil would take the children through the front door.

Elsie put Grace down and kissed each of the children in turn before looking up at Sybil,

"I hate the way you have to go that way while I go through the front door!"

"Oh don't worry about that Sybil, it makes no difference"

"I makes a world of difference!" she snapped causing Elsie to blink a few times. "I'm sorry"

"S'alright. Now you girls need to go and get dressed for dinner" she smiled at the girls, who were now confused at the stern voices the women were using.

"Thank you Ma…Elsie. I've enjoyed today" she blushed slightly, though she wasn't embarrassed that she occasionally referred to Elsie as 'Mama', it certainly confused the children.

"It was my pleasure. Have a good evening." They smiled at each other and taking Charlie's hand in hers she made her way to the servant's back door.

"Did you enjoy today Charlie?"

"Yes, it was fun. I like playing with Lottie and Grace – especially Lottie." Elsie suppressed a giggle and bent to hold his hand.

"Well, maybe they can come along on the next time we have a day together. Would you like that?"

"Yes! Very much Aunt Elsie, thank you."

She opened the door to let Charlie go in first, Ethel was sat at the dining table talking to Daisy. She stood up upon seeing her son and went to him with open arms. Elsie smiled, Ethel really had turned her life around, now with a job, a fiancée and a bright and lovable son – she could no longer fault the girl, even Charles admitted that she was now doing exceptionally well compared to her old self.

"Thank you Mrs Carson. It's nice to have a day to relax occasionally" she winked at her and Elsie pouted,

"I'm sure(!)" she pretended to be offended but couldn't hide her smile. "Be off with you" she kissed her on the cheek and gave Charlie a hug.

That evening she lay with Charles in the bedroom they now shared; the family had given up one of their larger guest rooms so that the two could share a bed, they also had a couple of settee's and a desk. She lay with her back to Charles, fitting perfectly in his arms. Charles was perched on his elbow with his other arm draped over her waist, his hand gently stroking her wrist.

"What are you thinking my dear?" He tightened the grip on her waist, it worried him if she didn't speak for a while, it meant she was deep in thought.

She sighed, "just something Sybil said this afternoon – she said did I think Charlie and Lottie were just friends" she felt Charles laugh against her back "she was joking of course but I can't help thinking on it."

"My dear, you think things to death too often" he kissed her neck in an attempt to get her to focus on other things, "they're just children."

"I know but do you think that would ever work out? Ethel is to become middle class when she is married and Sybil doesn't care about the class system, she'll only care about Lottie's happiness."

"Do you think she would be happy?"

"With Charlie? Well… it's hard to tell but he's a very sweet and caring boy now – I suspect he'll grow up to be the perfect gentlemen. I've noticed he's already beginning to copy you."

"In what way?"

"Holding doors open, carrying things, fetching me cups of tea – he must have seen you doing it because now whenever he's here he does that."

"Well, we could use and extra footman…" this comment was rewarded with Elsie's elbow in his stomach. "Don't worry about it Elsie. You remember Jane? His Lordship tells me her son's married very well and is now working as an account with a rather large salary. Proving that all it takes is an intelligent mind and a mothers love to take you far." 'Just look how far I've come' he thought, he hadn't had the richest of upbringings but he now considered himself the luckiest man alive; a fulfilling job with a good salary, a roof over his head, fantastic meals every day, a more than comfortable bed and a wonderful woman lying against him. "Ethel will take good care of him anyway; you don't need to worry about him so much."

"I can't help it Charles. He's the closet thing I have to a son; I can't help but be concerned with his welfare"

They were silent for a moment before an age old question arose,

"Do you wish we'd had children Elsie?"

"Charles we've had this conversation so many times. Having children would have been nice but I would never trade what we have now and we wanted our jobs anyway. If we had been young enough to have children, would we have chosen that path anyway? Well, we've got godchildren to care for now."

"It is nice to be able to spend our days off with them. Give Ethel and Sybil, time to relax."

"And give us a heart attack"

"Oh they're not that bad Elsie, a little excitable but lovable all the same."

She hesitated for a while before replying, "we would have made such good parents," it sounded like she'd simply said it to herself, he sighed, it wasn't that she lied to him, but for the sake of their consciences, she never admitted that she really did regret not being a mother.

"I know darling" he leaned over and kissed her neck, "but sleep now, I can tell you're worn out."

And he was right, no sooner had he turned out the light but she had fallen fast asleep, remembering holding Edward earlier and how it had been to hold each of her godchildren when they were just infants.

Meanwhile, in a room not too far down the hall, Sybil had awoken at Edwards muffled cries, Tom hadn't stirred so she went over to the crib saw the boy had got himself tangled in his blanket and was trying to fight his way out of it with no success, no getting upset, she lifted him up.

"Eh eh, don't cry like that. Shhhh shhhh. You don't want to wake your daddy now do you, he's always grumpy when he's woken in the night, though I don't think he minds when it's you. He loves you so much Eddie, you don't even realise how much we love you." She closed her eyes and held his head against her cheek; he'd stopped crying and just made the occasional noise.

"You've caused so much fuss you have, more than either of your sisters. You've mended the rift between your daddy and mine, it's because of you my boy that everything's now sorted, I can't thank you enough" she laid a kiss on his cheek and continued to talk to him;

"Papa's not the only one you make smile, Elsie seems happier too, Charlotte'll always be her favourite but you, you make her smile differently, maybe it's because you're her godson but she's so much happier when she holds you, you can juts twitch your nose and you bring a smile to her face that I haven't seen before. I've seen her smile plenty of times, I never knew there could be a different smile but you've sparked it.

Everyone loves you, they seem to love you more than the girls, they love the girls beyond belief but you're their first grandson and only their third grandchild anyway – Mary and Matthew still haven't had one, so you're special, so very special."

Edward made a noise that sounded like a giggle and she smiled, sometimes it was like he could understand what she was saying. She stroked his back,

"One day, when you're taller than me and with a voice deeper than Charles's, I'll still cuddle you, maybe not like this but I still will, even when you've left and you have your own children, I'll still hold you like this. I'll always be here for you m'boy - always."

She finally laid him back in his crib, fast asleep, before returning to her own bed and once again holding Toms hand, as they did every night, to make sure the other was still there.

Cora held Edward as Sybil kissed her family goodbye, Tom shook Roberts hand and Sybil could tell by her father's expression that all really was solved, it had taken five years but it was certainly worth it – all it had taken was Edward and the two men had realised how silly they were to have issues with the other. Tom took Edward from Cora and kissed her on the cheek, going over to the car and placing Edward in the little cot that attached to the seat, Grace was already sitting in her car seat. Noticing that Lottie wasn't there, Tom looked around panicking but he looked over to see Elsie knelt down with a crying Lottie in her arms; she gave him a sad look and attempted to shhh the child.

"It won't be that long sweetheart; you'll be back soon enough"

"I...don't...want...to...go" she managed,

"I know you don't but you have to, mama still writes to me though so you can still talk to me and maybe your papa will let you use the phone sometime. It's not like you won't see me again" she smiled sympathetically at the girl and she seemed to stop crying, Charles crouched down and took her hand,

"C'mon lets go and get in the car darling, your papa's waiting for you" he led her over to the car and lifted her up into it while Sybil finally came over to Elsie.

"She gets very attached when she's here."

"She doesn't see you very often; I told you she adores you"

Elsie sighed and kissed her cheek,

"Goodbye my dear, I'll write to you as soon as I can."

"I'll be relying on it" she turned and allowed Charles to help her into the car. He came back to stand by Elsie, his hands behind his back but one of them secretly finding Elsie's, people knew they were married but they didn't like to make a public display if affections all that often. He could feel her hand tremble in his as they watched the car pull away, he looked down on her, as there were other people around she was keeping her composure but he could see through the housekeeper demeanour, he could see she didn't want to let Sybil or Charlotte go and she was actually very upset. But the last thing they saw was a little face looking through the back window waving at them as the car left the drive. The face, a replica of one they'd know twenty five years ago, the same features ad her mother. The face of that special little girl they called Charlotte.

**Haha! I was so happy to find that the first car seat was invented in 1921 – made this work ;)**

**Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this story. Only have one now to update :p so I should get on with that.**

**Please take the time to review it :) I really really appreciate reviews!**


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